Sunday, January 15, 2012

Batam Harris Resort

First trip of the year was to Batam Harris Resort. It wasn't too bad but it could have been better. We booked the trip about 1 month in ahead as soon as we know when Michael would be having his POP and the following block week for holiday. We booked this trip from Five Star and it cost us $141 per person. We had a free spa plus breakfast and it was 3D2N stay.

Our ferry was at 7:50am hence we had to check in at 6:50am. Check-in counter at HarbourFront Center, level 2. The package didn't include the taxes for the ferry hence we each had to pay $27 extra. It's for both ways though, so when on the way back we didn't had to pay again.



Looking super puffy fish due to waking up too early.

Pardon for lousy quality, lighting was bad in the ferry. And hey, meet my botak boy!
So when we reached the terminal there was a shuttlebus for Harris Resort specifically right a the doorstep hence it wasn't hard to find them and they were all in orange.

On the way to the resort. Jian Rong.

Joel and Jian Rong (in couple tee)
The trip from the terminal to the resort was barely 2 minutes ride. It's really damn close, and oh yeah, we went to the old Harris Resort which is at Waterfront City. (Should have gone to the new one though.)

Meet kitty.
We we too early for the check in hence we relaxed around the sofas while waiting for the 1 time free shuttle service to Nagoya Hill Shopping Center.






Meet all the kitties that dine with us everyday below our tables. 



He sleeps everywhere he goes.

So this is the map of Harris resort. Don't be deceived it's actually not that big.

Thank god we have a free spa. The prices here is horrible.

We completely didn't get to play any sea sports because all is under renovation/construction or whatever you deem it as. It's just that they don't have the service at the point of time when we went.

We were give free bowling and free mahjong for 2 days even though they say they will charge us but they gave us for free! :D And the facilities are really old.

Prices are quite fixed and shuttle bus is $10 per person and it only goes to Nagoya Hill, so... somehow I think taxi is cheaper if you got more people traveling together.

So after slacking till about 10am, we took the free shuttle service to Nagoya Hill Shopping Center. Had lunch, explored and bought food from their uber big hypermart then bus-ed back with the same shuttle service at 4pm.






Their chicken is extremely small.

A meal cost you $37,500! Hahaha!

And of course, not forgetting A&W!
We had enough shopping so we pit-stopped at J.CO Donuts and look whose the hungry man.



And the angry man falls asleep after his donut.

The shuttle bus picked us up and it was another 30 minutes ride back to our resort. I too dozed off in the bumpy ride. It's just way too far off from town.

Back to our resort and here's some shots of our room!



Ignore me, just wanted to show the toilet size. Lol.






So it's time for dinner and we had no where to go except the cafe beside the lobby. The rest of the other 3 restaurants were either not opened or under renovation. So we had no choice. (FYI, breakfast, lunch and dinner were all at the same cafe just that menu is different)


It's roughly like a Singapore Fish&Co pricing though.
This is something that I made myself and it's a must for all my travels!

So these kittens were there every night below our table when we dine. Even in the morning, and the noon. 







That was our dinner and it cost us all S$100plus. Which is about roughly S$25 per person which is not too bad. We had drinks and pizza together with our main dish. And it's not too bad too!







First night ended slightly early as we were all tired from the travelling. Anyway, we didn't pay for the lunch and dinner voucher but I'm not sure why were we given free. Hahaha!

Second morning we had breakfast and it's kinda disappointing..... The pancakes were awful, as hard as stones. The porridge accordingly to Michael it was good. No scramble eggs which is fail, sunny side up was completely cold. Know what's the best? Cereal. It'd never go wrong. So yeah, both mornings, I ate cereal only.

And yes, after breakfast, we played Mahjong for a round till noon before heading out for sea sports.

All ready for seasports!










As you can see... they have alot of facilities but... it's either under renovation or not in use or there's actually not a single soul when we explored the supposedly 'entertainment-building'. We didn't play any sea sports at all because there isn't any that we could play. All were either under renovation, no equipment. They simply had no seasports but on the brochure they hand to us, all the rates were there and they didn't even inform us there wasn't any seasports. By the time we realized that it was already too late to get out of the resort. With no shuttle service and with Taxi fares being so ridiculously expensive, we decided to make do with the vouchers we have which is, bowling.







The voucher was only for the free game but we had to purchase their socks and their shoes. It's the worst socks and shoes I've ever purchased and rented because the socks was stained with dust and black marks and the shoes were badly maintained. Cracks all over and.... it was kind of slippery. And not to mention, the machine was pretty old that I never even see before. Oh ya, the socks also... abit old school. See the pictures and you'd understand why.





Don't he look like tintin?




So after bowling, we went to have a good dinner since we saved up alot on the seasports.












For all the food you see, it's about S$85plus. the korean side dishes were completely free even though we all ordered Japanese food. And it's not too bad actually for their Japanese dishes.

After dinner, it was the most awaited part of the trip. Yes, our free spa included in the package we bought.
It was a Indonesia oil massage, 60minutes. Not too bad, we had a room to ourselves, very cozy and comfortable setting in the 'woods'. (I didn't manage to take any pictures though.)








Spa ended and we went for a night swim. The pool there is also under renovation, so half the swimming pool is occupied plus there's no night lights for swimming so you're like swimming in the dark. It's about 2.2m deep for the deep pool though. :/

Washed up and it was Mahjong again before we officially went to bed.

Next morning, I remembered to bring my camera along so here's the picture of the food. Not very wide spread though.






After breakfast we slacked for awhile and then took a cab out to Nagoya Hill Shopping Mall again because our ferry was at 4:30pm.




Soon, it's time for home... here's the ferry.















Probably if you are looking for adventure and seasports, this isn't the place for you. But if you're looking for real relaxing space with completely no interruption, this might be a good place for you. Wifi is provided throughout the resort but at certain spots then you can receive the signal. Plus, there's really nothing to do here except to sleep, relax, swim and spa. Not a place for shopping nor sports and crowd. I think Harris would have been better if everything wasn't under renovation. Maybe because I went on a Monday to Wednesday so majority of the restaurants or facilities are under maintenance. There's another resort in Batam that's under Harris as well, it's at Batam Center. The one I went was at Waterfront City, which is the old Harris. Oh, one thing remarkable, they really have very good service. I would recommend for good service, relax and spa. But not for the adventures. (:

Overall, not too bad.

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